El Salvador: Supreme Court to Decide on Jesuit Killings Case

San Salvador, Aug 9 (Prensa Latina) The Supreme Court will decide on whether or not to extradite nine retired military officers who face charges in Spain for the 1989 killing of six Jesuits priests in 1989, according to legal sources. On Monday, the Salvadoran government announced that the retired officers voluntarily turned themselves in to military police on Sunday as the National Civil Police were about to arrest them based on an Interpol Red Notice for their extradition to Spain.

The Supreme Court may determine which judge will oversee the case today or Thursday, it was reported.

Six Jesuit priests and two of their clerical workers were murdered by army troops on November 16, 1989 at the Jose Simeon Cañas Central American University in El Salvador.

A Truth Commission in 1993 blamed the armed forces high command for the crime and its coverup by former President Alfredo Cristiani.

Shortly after the report, however, the Legislative Assembly passed a law granting amnesty for crimes committed during the 1980-1992 armed conflict.

The Nationalist Republic Alliance (ARENA), led by Cristiani is the only party that has commented on the charges aginst the officers, harshly criticizing it.